


The Purpose of Familiars

by Exultation_of_the_Gryphon



Series: The Purpose of Familiars [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bonding, Familiars, Wizarding Traditions, Wizarding World, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 09:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5370965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exultation_of_the_Gryphon/pseuds/Exultation_of_the_Gryphon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reads almost like a summary of what might be in a lesson on Wizarding traditions drawn from folklore and popular history.</p><p>Worldbuilding to answer the question of, "Why are Hogwarts students allowed to bring a pet to a boarding school?"</p><p>Made to explain what happened to Harry in, "And the Phoenix was Dead Too."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Purpose of Familiars

**The Purpose of Familiars**

 

What if there were other teachers for the History of Magic class at Hogwarts?

Binns would be a Goblin Wars elective teacher, though perhaps he would not notice the change.

Perhaps there would be a short class on magical folklore primarily aimed at the Muggleborn students to help explain why some things are the way they are in the Magical World.

One of the first things that might be explained would be why students are allowed to bring pets to a boarding school.

 

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“ _... of the familiar, one of the most commonly retold stories is how a witch, choking in the smoke of the bonfire below her looked up in desperation and lay eyes on a raven. In that instant the raven looked back down at her and she could see herself from the raven's eyes, limp in the ropes that bound her. She was swept away by the raven, a hapless passenger until the raven, who had been an expectant mother, laid her eggs and the witch hatched out of one of the eggs as a raven._

_After she grew to adulthood as a raven she went back to her home and spoke to her surviving family and they found a way to return her to her human form._

_The same raven that had carried her came back to her and stayed with her for the rest of its natural life, occasionally sweeping her away in her dreams to look through the raven's eyes again for a short time._

This witch later named one of her sons Ravenclaw in remembrance, and it is from this woman that Rowena Ravenclaw, of Hogwart's Founding famed, is descended.

In this story, both the familiar and an early form of the modern Animagus revealing spell is mentioned. During after this encounter, many witches and wizards sought ways to communicate with animals so that if they or their offspring were captured, their souls and minds might flee to some place of safety. Some wizards and witches bound mighty beasts to their sides while others found that common animals were more useful.

A Kneazel is a good judge of character, birds can carry warning of someone approaching, dogs could help find lost people, items and animals; ferrets can help catch rats and other vermin thereby helping to prevent the spreading of disease; the vermin themselves were useful because they were so common that Muggles would never catch the right one save for an event of true misfortune...”

(On the Trans Animale Revelare Spell and its Roots in Animal Possession, pg 13).

 

While a Hogwarts student is rarely linked to the animal they bring to the school, it can be an excellent exercise on how to partner with an animal that might someday save that person's life.

Sometimes a student might form the beginnings of a bond with his or her animal. This should be monitored by a professor and after the child's third year, they should be asked if they would like their bond strengthened.

Likewise, the magical Muggleborn children should be encouraged to find and bond with a familiar early as they are most at risk of being murdered before reaching adulthood and the chance to seek a proper familiar.

If the familiar is truly suitable with the child then it will find its life expectancy and intelligence increased. If the familiar is unsuited to the child and is bound anyway for the child's safety it is like for the familiar to remain limited and the child will be able to seek another familiar without any consequences.

Studies have been created to study the relationship between Animagus forms, the form of the corporeal Patronus, and the ideal familiar.

While sample sizes of the studies are too small for solid conclusions to be drawn, it is of note that the Patronus has not been a direct predator to the familiar of the witches and wizards participating in the study. It was also noted that all three - Patronus, Animagus, and Familiar - can be different species.

The Animagus revealing spell can be used on both Animagi and an animal possessed by a human to force the witch or wizard into a human shape, even after death. The most notable difference is that an Animagi will return to humanity with clothing, items, and abilities intact. The possessed familiar however will assume the form of their possessing bonded human, but on transformation will have nothing more than what the animal was physically carrying.

In other words, the familiar carrying its witch or wizard will assume human form naked, wandless, and the human within will have difficulties preforming magic until certain rituals are carried out to stabilize their new bodies. If the original familiar animal reproduced, placing the wizard or witch's soul in a new body, then there is no familiar spirit displaced by the animagus revealing spell and the stabilizing rituals are unnecessary.

It is also wise to find bodies for the displaced familiar spirit. A witch or wizard that keeps the animal spirit within their body may find their Animgus form compromised, their dreams haunted, and certain animal traits becoming prominent. They may also find bonding an new familiar impossible. If the previous familiar is simply exorcized, while the previous problems will certainly be prevented, it seems likely that new potential familiars can feel the betrayal of that trust. Witches and wizards that have admitted to this method are very unlikely to find a new familiar unless they forcibly bind one, which carries its own risks to be discussed in a later chapter.

It is common for the animal to be bound to some kind of jewelry, weapon, or statuette which is animated so the animal can continue to act in the world of the living.

 

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12/6/15

Word Count: 973

As ever, I would love to hear what my readers think.

 


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